Holy sh*t!! Red Dwarf is back!!!!

[Captain Pike]

It's been said more than once that the comic dynamic between Lister and Rimmer is an organic extension of the dynamic between Fletcher and Godber in Porridge (one of my all-time favourite comedies), often with them in their cell conversing with Fletch on the top bunk and Godber on the bottom.

In series I & II this relaitionship is more defined since a) there is no Kryten (well a tiny bit in one episode played by another actor, but I digress) and b) the cat isn't around as much as he would be by the time of series III onwards (once they figured out he'd become a popular character). The Porridge analogy is all the more vivid since their surroundings are basically just drab grey everywhere.

If the parrallel with Porridge is significant in seasons I & II, it's enhanced tenfold in series VIII, where now our heroes are placed in prison with Lister and Rimmer sharing a cell together. The analogy is taken to it's limit, complete with very similar schemes and illegal forms of entertainment devised by the inmates going on under the noses of the guards.

That's one of the things I find so endearing about those seasons.

 

[Jim Steele]

Fuck sake! No official announcement or anything!

I just want to know what's going on. You'd think the official website would have piped up by now, instead of masturbating over RD winning some Radio Times poll (who the fuck cares?).

Gonna fucking scream.

 

[Pingfah]

I watched the Future Echoes scene again last night and Borgified Corpse was dead on, there are actually 2 fairly large hand gestures he makes towards Lister the first time around that he didn't the second time.

I'm wondering if he mimed to the vocal track as well actually because the inflections on his voice are dead on between both scenes.

 

[CaptainWacky]

This comeback is going to turn out like the movie we all thought was coming out in 1998, isn't it?

 

[Iamnotspock]

This comeback is going to turn out like the movie we all thought was coming out in 1998, isn't it?

Possibly, but there's much more likelyhood of this happening than of the movie, which was halted by funding problems. If this does go ahead, then I'm cautiously optimistic.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

In series I & II [the Rimmer/Lister] relaitionship is more defined since a) there is no Kryten (well a tiny bit in one episode played by another actor, but I digress) and b) the cat isn't around as much as he would be by the time of series III onwards (once they figured out he'd become a popular character).

Supposedly, part of the reason why Cat & Kryten became larger characters on the show was because it was becoming increasingly difficult to get through rehearsals of the just Rimmer & Lister scenes because, at the time, Chris Barrie & Craig Charles hated each other. Thankfully they'd patched things up by the time Series VIII rolled around and neither of them are very clear or forthcoming about exactly why they didn't get along in the first place.

 

[Reverend]

I'm wondering if he mimed to the vocal track as well actually because the inflections on his voice are dead on between both scenes.

Well as anyone who's seen Spitting Image or listend the the Red Dwarf audiobooks can attest, Chris is an accomplished vocal impersonator. One assumes this talent extends towards himself too. In short, he has a good ear.

Thankfully they'd patched things up by the time Series VIII rolled around and neither of them are very clear or forthcoming about exactly why they didn't get along in the first place.

Probably because they were both a little to well cast. Impersonators being notoriously precise and meticulous performers while young scouse poets with little acting experiance who come into work drunk and fall asleep on the set are...not.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

So long as we're deprived of news on the new Red Dwarf whatsit, can anyone recommend some other works that Chris Barrie or Craig Charles has done that I can check out in the interim? (I've wanted to see Barrie's Brittas Empire but that's not available in R1.)

I watched the Future Echoes scene again last night and Borgified Corpse was dead on, there are actually 2 fairly large hand gestures he makes towards Lister the first time around that he didn't the second time.

I'm wondering if he mimed to the vocal track as well actually because the inflections on his voice are dead on between both scenes.

His vocal rhythms are pretty dead on. But like his hand gestures, his tone is a little softer the 2nd time around than it is the first. Again, I point to the line, "Shut up!" as the most striking example.

 

[Reverend]

I think someone uploaded just about all the episodes of "Space Cadets" on youtube. It's the only show where you'll ever see Dave Lister kiss Captain Kirk...a unique if disturbing sight.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

^ Brittas Empire is excellent. Craig 'the Master of Mayhem' Charles has only really presented Robot Wars and been a cabbie in Corrie. Danny John-Jules turns up in bit-parts in pretty much anything, and Robert Llewellyn until very recently was presenter of Scrapheap Challenge.

For the ultimate Red Dwarf experience, you need to find I, Lovett

 

[Bob The Skutter]

^ Brittas Empire is excellent. Craig 'the Master of Mayhem' Charles has only really presented Robot Wars and been a cabbie in Corrie. Danny John-Jules turns up in bit-parts in pretty much anything, and Robert Llewellyn until very recently was presenter of Scrapheap Challenge.

For the ultimate Red Dwarf experience, you need to find I, Lovett

He was also in The Governor and was in 1 ep of Lexx (with Hattie). He's also written a poetry book, and The Log A Dwarfers' Guide to Everything, and of course did the voice over for Takeshi's Castle.

I only vaguely remember I, Lovett, but I seem to remember it was quite randomly mental.

 

[Captain Pike]

Out of interest, has anyone seen any of Craig Charles' standup work ?

He came to Melbourne once back in the 90's and a group of us, still giddy with joy over Red Dwarf booked some tickets to see him. Anticipation was pretty high I must say, since every one of us had loved his work on Dwarf, so maybe that was why we all basically felt like leaving half-way through, though we stuck around for the whole show. What a dreadfully disappointing night. I mean, I don't mind performers who work a little on the 'blue' side of things, but he went kinda overboard, and on top of it was just not funny at all. He completely failed to impress any of us that night..

I'll always love his work on Red Dwarf, but if you get a chance to see him live doing stand-up, my advice would be to avoid it like the plague..

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Out of interest, has anyone seen any of Craig Charles' standup work ?

He came to Melbourne once back in the 90's and a group of us, still giddy with joy over Red Dwarf booked some tickets to see him. Anticipation was pretty high I must say, since every one of us had loved his work on Dwarf, so maybe that was why we all basically felt like leaving half-way through, though we stuck around for the whole show. What a dreadfully disappointing night. I mean, I don't mind performers who work a little on the 'blue' side of things, but he went kinda overboard, and on top of it was just not funny at all. He completely failed to impress any of us that night..

I'll always love his work on Red Dwarf, but if you get a chance to see him live doing stand-up, my advice would be to avoid it like the plague..

I saw him in stand up twice, and I loved it. I wouldn't say he was any "bluer" than many comedians here. He has gone on record saying that people who come and see him expecting Lister off Red Dwarf will be disappointed.

 

[Tomalak]

I'll always love his work on Red Dwarf, but if you get a chance to see him live doing stand-up, my advice would be to avoid it like the plague..

I understand he was very good when he was a cheeky scouse counter-culture poet/comedian in the dark days of Thatcher's Britain, but he's lost the edge now. I think he was rather heavily into dust in the nineties as well, allegedly.

According to Robert Llewellyn, he wasn't supposed to mention the new episode, and the official announcement is due sometime this month. Oops!

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I think he was rather heavily into dust in the nineties as well, allegedly.

Dust is none of your business!

 

[Captain Shaw]

Do we know what is happening with this?

 

[tharpdevenport]

Any news will be on their website:

http://www.reddwarf.co.uk/news/


Fellow smegheads unite!

 

[Hober Mallow]

So is the movie totally dead?

 

[Rarewolf]

yes, the comeback will be on TV

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/cult/a139434/craig-charles-drops-red-dwarf-story-hints.html

 

[FordSVT]

Awesome. I hope it's more than just 1 hour though..

That's how Sarah Jane started, I'm not even sure this thing is a go but you never know.

But Sarah Jane didn't require expensive sets and could draw a bit from Doctor Who's production. It does seem like a lot of effort for just one hour of TV.

A series of TV movies or using it as a kind of pilot with the intention of a regular series I can see, but not simply one hour of TV with no expectations of more. There is more to this than they are letting on or it's all a bunch of CS. I hope it's the former.

The Red Dwarf episodes where they are on "backwards time Earth" are some of the most strangely filmed TV episodes I've ever watched. In a good way.